An Update on the Gimp...

Firstly....I want to warn you in advance the POTD is NOT pretty and might put some people off so it will appear towards the bottom of today's post. (Ann, this especially means you! don't look unless you really want to.)

But before I get to the update, I'm so excited! I won another blog contest, this one was over at Weeds n' Wildflowers I won their Life 365: Toolbox Collection! This will make creating my digi album for Project 365 so much easier and a lot of fun too! So I've been busy this morning downloading my free goodies :) and I'll be looking at their tutorial & ideas this morning too!Now the update from my appointment at the surgeons' yesterday. I'm happy to report that I received an "Excellent" & "A+" on my report card from the Doctor, who was very pleased with my progress and the x-rays... so much so in fact that I'm cast free!

Yup, that's right! I don't need another cast (removeable, walking or other wise) and I don't have to keep the foot elevated 24/7. But that doesn't mean I'm starting to go places anywhere fast.

I'm still not allowed to put ANY weight on the foot for another 4 weeks, so that means I'm still using the wheelchair (for longer distances) and have graduated to using the walker and crutches more. I also have to elevate it a few times a day still.

I had a physio session as well, I have a set of ten non-weight bearing exercises to do a few times each day to rebuild the muscle, reduce the swelling and create more range of motion. I'm also icing the area to reduce the swelling as well. I was actually surprised at how swollen the foot is, since the swelling in my toes had gone down I assumed the foot has also gone down... nope! not the case.

I was also happy to learn that the surgeon had done subcutaneous stitches (under the skin) so the scaring won't be as bad as I thought it might be. The stitches are dissolving instead of having to have them yanked out which made me happy too. Norbert was surprised at how long the incision is when the cast came off, I wasn't...I knew it would be longish and it's ugly right now!

So for the next four weeks, I'll be staying off the foot, doing exercises and trying to get out for short distances with the walker. On February 3rd I go back to the surgeon for another x-ray and then apparently I'll be learning to walk again! Yippee :)

So here it is....a close up of the leg, the swelling & the stitches in all it's glory just after the cast came off.And me... happy about the fact that I'm cast free & I got an excellent report card!
RAK winners... I haven't forgotten about you! I've just not been able to get to the post office. For my local friends, I will hopefully see you on the 18th at the crop to pass along your goodies and Shell, I'll get yours in the mail this week :)

I'm offering another RAK! Guess how long (in inches) the incision is... closest to the actual length will be entered into the draw for the RAK. You've got until Monday to guess.